1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to semiconductor devices, and more particularly relates to semiconductor devices that include structures for detecting die or dice cracks that occur in semiconductor chips when dicing the wafer to produce semiconductor chips.
2. Description of Related Art
In the semiconductor chip manufacturing process several tens of and several hundreds of semiconductor chip sections having formed therein active element regions are formed in and on a single wafer. Consequently, the wafer is divided into individual semiconductor chips through the performance of the dicing process. Specifically, dicing grooves are formed along dicing lines that are appropriately established on the wafer surface, doing so through a scribing method, a laser method, or a dicing saw method. Afterwards, the wafer is separated into individual semiconductor chips by breaking it along the dicing grooves that have been formed.
Conventionally, the semiconductor chips wherein dice cracks have occurred in the dicing process have been sorted out through visual inspections.
The object of the present invention is to provide a semiconductor device that has a structure for the electrical detection of dice cracks.
Specifically, the dice cracks in the dicing process that would cause a loss of functionality of the semiconductor chip and that occur on the edges or in the middle of the semiconductor chip are detected by measuring changes in impedance depending on whether or not there are disconnects in detection interconnections and/or detection diffusion layers that are connected between monitor terminals in order to separate out the defective semiconductor chips or the defective semiconductor dice.
The semiconductor chip structure of the present invention makes it possible to detect electrically defects due to dice cracks at the same time as the electrical characteristic tests that are performed after the assembly of the semiconductor devices. The separating out of the semiconductor chips can be done with more consistency and with more certainty, and can be performed more easily. The visual inspection process can be eliminated. As a result, it is possible to reduce the number of inspectors and shorten the inspection process, making it possible to reduce the cost of the product substantially.